I remember how excited so was the day I moved to Dream Land. It just sounded like a place filled with happiness and new opportunities. I remember staying up late at night reading history books by torch light and memorising map routes in preparation for my big move to this wonderful kingdom.

My father grew up in Dream Land, born in a small village called Cappy Town, where he became a servant to the King once he was of working age. Not King Dedede - this was the previous ruler, Dedede's father.

Eventually my father moved away from Dream Land, where he met my mother and they had me. Those years must have meant a lot to him though, because all throughout my childhood my father would tell me stories of Dream Land, stories of the King, of his time working and living in the grand castle on the hill.

"But if you loved it so much, why did you leave?" I asked one evening at bedtime.

My father sighed. "Sometimes you can have fond memories of a place, but deep down, you still know it isn't right for you. Even though it hurts, you have to move on in order to continue growing as a person." He ruffled my hair. "You'll understand when you grow up, Riri."

I didn't understand. I didn't think it mattered.

Of course I cried the day I left home. I thought back to my father's words, about needing to leave a place in order to grow as a person, and I understood what he meant. At least, I thought I did.

I remember carrying my heavy suitcase through the peaceful village of Cappy Town, I peered up at the castle on top of the hill in the distance. My eyes lit up at the sight - it looked just like my father had described in all his stories, and as I approached the building I felt like I was walking into a real-life fairytale. I was sure I'd feel like a princess once I moved in, even if I was living in servant's quarters.

Reaching the top of the hill, panting with exhaustion, I watched in awe as the castle drawbridge lowered to let me in. A small round orange creature with one giant eye was waiting on the other side.

"You must be Erika," he said, and I nodded. "I'm Waddle Doo, the head guard here at Castle Dedede.

"That's right," I confirmed, heaving my heavy luggage to my side.

"Is that your stuff? The Waddle Dees will take care of that for you." Waddle Doo called out into the open, "Hey, fellas! Over here!"

Before I had a chance to ask what a Waddle Dee was, a troupe of small round creatures with large black eyes marched into view. Two of them picked up my suitcase and carried it into the castle. Another four surrounded me, and started guiding me in another direction, lead by Waddle Doo. I felt a little uneasy.

Finally, after several long hallways and winding stairs, we reached a large door.

"This is King's throne room," Waddle Doo explained. "Go on in. King Dedede is expecting you."

I nervously eased the door open and entered the throne room for the first time, accompanied by the same Waddle Dees who guided me. There on the throne was a large blue penguin dressed in royal red robes - King Dedede, the ruler of Dream Land. Up until this point I had only seen him in photographs, so it was a little surreal, perhaps even a little intimidating, to see him in person. Wanting to make a good first impression, I meekly approached the throne and bowed before the King.

"It's a honour to be in your presence, Your Majesty."

"You're Erika?" the King spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Starting tomorrow, you'll be working for me. I expect loyalty, and I expect you to follow orders without question, ya hear?"

"It will be an honour to serve the great ruler of Dream Land." I hated the way he was talking down to me, but I knew I had to suck up a little to get on his good side. OK, I was sucking up a lot, but it was necessary. "Thank you for this opportunity." With another bow, I turned to leave, only to find myself face to face with an unfamiliar snail who measured up slightly shorter than me.

Giving me a puzzled look, he spoke directly to King Dedede. "Sire, who is this?"

"This here is Erika, my newest servant. She's gonna be helping out around here starting tomorrow."

"Is that so?" He narrowed his beady green eyes at me. "Well then, Erika. Try not to get in His Majesty's way."

I glared straight back. I didn't even know his name, but at that moment, I decided I didn't like that snail one bit.

I remember the next day, when it poured with rain. His Majesty asked me to make a hot chocolate to very specific instructions. I was in the kitchen, concentrating hard and trying to remember the exact temperature and number of marshmallows the King had requested, when I heard the door open.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I glanced behind me. It was the snail who talked down to me when I met King Dedede.

I went back to preparing the drink. "It's a cold day, and His Majesty has asked for hot chocolate."

"Look, kid," he said, slithering up to me accompanied by a strange whirling noise. "I'll let you off with a warning since you're new here, but I'm the one who makes His Majesty's hot chocolate."

"He asked me to do it," I said smoothly, gently stirring in the milk.

The mollusk seemed stunned. "He… did?"

"Yes. Is there a problem, Mr Snail?"

"My name," he spoke sharply, "is Escargoon."

I had to hold back a snort of laughter at such a ridiculous name.

"Well, Escargoon. It's been wonderful meeting you," I lied, placing the King's hot chocolate on a tray, "but I must bring the King his drink."

I sauntered out of the room without looking back, but I could feel his icy gaze on my head as I left the room. From that moment on, Escargoon and I were rivals.

I remember the first time I was dragged into one of the King's monster plots. I could hardly bear to watch as Dedede and Escargoon stood in Cappy Town square, whooping and cheering for the reptilian beast pummelling a small pink ball, whose name I learned was Kirby. I didn't understand why the King disliked Kirby; he seemed harmless and sweet. I stayed in the car covering my eyes, begging the monster to go easy on the poor pink thing.

"Erika."

Through the noise of the ongoing carnage, I heard an unfamiliar voice speak my name with a Spanish accent. I uncovered my face to see a round masked creature standing on the hood of the King's car, a deep blue cloak wrapped around his small body.

"Hey," I said, "you look familiar. I think I've seen you around the castle."

"Indeed. My name is Meta Knight. I, too, work for King Dedede."

"You're a knight? Like, you fight with swords and stuff?" I quizzed. "Can't you do something to help that little pink Kirby?"

"Kirby is stronger than he appears. Observe."

Meta Knight pointed to where the battle was raging on. In the time that I was cowering and covering my eyes, Kirby had suddenly changed in colour from light pink to a reddish fuchsia, and was now wearing a crown of flames, riding through the air on a large yellow star. I gazed upon the scene in awe as Kirby shot a fiery blast from his mouth straight at the monster, burning it to a crisp. The town erupted in cheers as Kirby descended back to the ground, a determined look on his face.

"That's… incredible," I breathed, my eyes sparkling.

From that day forward, I wasn't scared of the monsters. I intensely watched every battle between Kirby and whatever beast Dedede had ordered up, silently cheering for the tiny pink warrior.

I remember the first time I was subjected to King Dedede's anger. I had failed to polish his throne to flawless perfection, on a day when yet another one of his monsters was wiped out by Kirby, so he was already in a foul mood. I was yelled at, loudly. What exactly he said is a blur in my memory now, but I remember a certain snail finding me curled up in the hall, quietly sobbing to myself.

To my surprise, he slithered closer and sat beside me, leaning back on his shell. I held my breath, waiting for a sarcastic remark.

"Hey, kid," he sighed. "I know how you feel. I've been putting up with the King's temper tantrums for years. He's always been that way."

I gave a disdainful snort.

"What I'm trying to say," he continued, ignoring my contempt, "is that you'll get used to it. Believe it or not, His Majesty has a real sweet side once you get to know him."

"Wow, thanks for the mighty words of wisdom," I muttered sarcastically.

"Fine. Be that way, see if I care," he scoffed, picking himself up off the ground and leaving without another word.

I curled up into a ball, resting my forehead on my knees. Why did I say such mean things? He was extending an olive branch and I snapped that branch into tiny, unforgiving splinters without a second thought.

I wasn't crying just because the King had yelled at me - if anything, that was the final straw that sent a mountain of misery crashing down on me, a mountain that had been steadily building up since I first arrived. This wasn't the princess-like life I'd longed for all throughout my childhood. My father was right. I finally understood what he meant, and why he left the kingdom. But what could I do? I was stuck working for a grumpy monarch, taking out my frustrations on the closest person I had to an ally, trapped in a Dream Land without any dreams.

The only thing I could do was carry on living as best I could.

Exactly a week had passed since my birthday. Life was the same as always in Castle Dedede - boring, repetitive work, no fairytale spark to be found in the whole kingdom, and a stony silence between myself and Escargoon. We hadn't actually spoken to each other since I confessed my feelings to him, the feelings that I was now channeling back into hatred, just like before.

"Erika!" the King bellowed. "Where's my tea?!"

I slowly trudged up the stairs, eventually making my way out onto the balcony where King Dedede was relaxing on a deck chair in the sun, being fanned by Escargoon. I avoided making eye contact with either of them.

"It's about time you got here!" the King yelled.

"Here's your tea, Your Majesty," I said monotonously, ignoring his complaints. As soon as the tea was in his hands, I turned to leave. Dedede was calling my name again with that booting voice of his the moment I was out of sight, but I pretended not to hear and carried on walking. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I wasn't in the mood for the King's constant demands and whining. I didn't sign up to be a babysitter to an overgrown manchild. I didn't know what I had signed up for at all anymore.

"Erika!" an angry voice called out behind me, accompanied by a familiar whirling noise in place of footsteps. "Get back here, missy!"

"I don't feel like talking to you," I called back without even turning around. I blinked rapidly, trying desperately not to let any tears form.

"I don't want to talk to you either! His Majesty is ordering you to return to the balcony right now!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and whipped around, coming face to face with Escargoon, who had to come to a sudden halt to stop himself crashing into me.

The mollusk cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he spoke in a dangerously calm tone, "King Dedede is requesting that you return to the balcony immediately. His tea is too cold, so you'd better make him a new one."

"Why don't you make it, since you're so hopelessly in love with him?" I said mockingly.

"How dare you!" His face flushed crimson, but he maintained eye contact with me, as if to assert dominance.

"Oh, I dare," I said smugly.

"You know what, Erika? I always knew you were a little brat!" he spat, prodding me hard in the chest on the word 'brat'. "I thought you were the one person in all of Dream Land I could trust with my secret, but you're just as slimy and rotten as everyone else!"

Slap.

My hand swung at his face before I could even stop myself. Escargoon's eyes widened as he cupped his cheek where my hand had slapped him. Even I was shocked at what I'd done. This wasn't like me.

But I was still too proud to apologise. I simply lowered my head and waited for retribution.

And waited.

And waited. All I could hear was heavy breathing. He was clearly seething with rage, and yet… nothing? Where were his sarcastic remarks, his screamed insults, or even a simple slap right back?

Slowly, I raised my head again.

His angry scowl was betrayed by the tears rolling down his face.

Of course I had seen him cry before, but not like this. My heart broke at the sight. I wanted to apologise, I wanted to promise that everything would go back to normal.

But I couldn't. Instead I remained wordless and stubborn.

He was the first to speak. "I hope you're happy." It was clearly intended to be spoken in an intimidating growl, but the words came out shaky and sorrowful.

I wasn't happy. I hadn't been happy for a long time, and I couldn't stand it anymore.

I quickly turned and stormed down the hall. I didn't want him to see the tears forming in my eyes, dribbling down my cheeks. As I turned the corner, out of the mollusk's sight, I broke out into a run and made a dash for my bedchamber.

As soon as I was safely within the privacy of my room, I started trembling. Panicking. The realisation of what I had done was setting in. Not only had I physically attacked the King's closest aide, I had ignored Dedede's orders. He was going to throw me out of the castle for sure. I would have to return home to my parents in disgrace.

My heart rate quickened, my breathing became unstable, a cold chill ran down my spine. I had really, truly screwed up. I thought of the disappointment on my father's face. I couldn't stand it.

My eyes fixed upon an unopened bottle of Chardonnay on my shelf - a birthday gift from Sir Ebrum. Without a second thought, I grabbed the bottle and struggled with the cork, yanking it out and tipping a gulp of the burning fluid down my throat before I had a chance to think rationally. Normally I was only a social drinker, and I had never drunk myself into a stupor, but I couldn't stop myself. The bottle was half empty within minutes, and a sickly dizziness started to set in as the room began to spin.

For once, I didn't want to remember.